Fitness in the Panhandle: New $6.5 million training facility coming to Amarillo

AMARILLO, TX (KFDA) - One of the newest developments coming to west Amarillo is all about fitness.

"We’re going to have a full upstairs track, half a football field of turf, we’re going to have combines for athletes all around the Panhandle,” said Kevin Van Voris, co-owner of Contagion Athletics. “We’ll have some of the most custom equipment in the United States as far as gyms go.”

The new Contagion Athletics facility will also include other fitness machines and weights, a cafe and a clothing retail section, which is how the company got its start.

Van Voris says his past experience as a football player inspired him to create a place where local athletes can train, as well as anyone looking to get in shape.

"I played football for WT so I'm a WT alumni there and I felt there was a need here for high school athletes trying to go to the next level, there was no place to go,” said Van Voris.

Contagion says the facility is unlike anything else in the area and can serve as an asset for local high school teams.

"There's no one here that enables teams to utilize that turf, as well as combines, we're also going to be able to allow high schools to come rent out that space, that way they can have practices indoors, we can train teams indoors,” said David Van Voris, co-owner of Contagion Athletics.

According to city building permits, the 37,000-square foot facility will cost $6.5 million to build and will be located off of West Amarillo Boulevard between Soncy and the medical district, a location, Contagion says, would add to the area.

"We picked that location because there's no athletic facilities on that side of town and also the medical center which we feel is a good location as far as all the workers and employees that work there,” said Van Voris. “There's a bunch of employees that come all the way from there to this gym so we figured what better spot to be than in the medical center."

The company expects to break ground within the next couple weeks and the new facility could open as early as late summer or early fall of 2019.

Contagion Athletics is currently located near I-27 and Bell and will leave that space once the new location is complete.

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